Book info

• Title The Island Swimmer
• Author Lorraine Kelly
• Year 2024
• Genre Contemporary

When Evie's father falls desperately ill, she finally returns to the family home on Orkney and the wild landscape she left as a teenager, swearing never to return. Not everyone is happy at her arrival, particularly her estranged sister Liv, their relationship broken after a childhood trauma. As Evie clears out her father's neglected house to prepare it for sale, lonely Evie finds herself drawn to a group of cold-water swimmers led by her old friend Freya, who find calmness beneath the waves. Together they help Evie face up to the mistakes in her past, unlocking a treasure of truths that will reverberate through the community, and shake her family to its core.

Thoughts

I listened to the audiobook of this, read by Lorraine Kelly in her amazing Scottish accent. It’s a weird story, though, there’s something about the way it’s told that feels a bit hands off. There are long passages that are just ‘this happened, then that happened, then they did this’ like it’s an overview of things rather than the actual story. But of course, if we did dialogue and details for everything it would go on forever. Some of the characters are interesting, some a bit disappointing, but overall it’s a good, coming-back-home story.

Rating: 3 / 5